This patent relates to methods of folding informational items which have printed information, such as instructions and/or warnings, relating to pharmaceutical products.
Informational items, such as outserts, are used to convey information to purchasers and users of pharmaceutical products. The information printed on an outsert typically includes instructions for use of a pharmaceutical product and medical warnings relating to the product. The outsert typically accompanies the product, such as by being affixed directly to the container in which the pharmaceutical product is provided or by being enclosed within a cardboard carton in which the pharmaceutical container is packaged.
A method of forming outserts is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,812,195 to Michael Vijuk. In that patent, outserts are manufactured by folding a relatively long sheet a number of times in a direction perpendicular to the length of the sheet and then cutting the folded sheet a number of times in a direction perpendicular to the folding direction to make a number of individual outserts. The result of the folding and cutting steps is a xe2x80x9cribbonxe2x80x9d style outsert like the one shown in FIG. 1B.
FIG. 1A illustrates an example of an outsert 10 constructed in accordance with the prior art which has open edges 12 about its periphery. FIG. 1B illustrates a conventional ribbon style outsert 14 constructed in accordance with the prior art. The outsert 14 has a tail portion 16 which, prior to opening of the outsert by the purchaser of the associated pharmaceutical product, is glued to an interior portion of the outsert. The tail portion 16 consists of a single sheet having an unfolded, exterior sheet edge which lies in a direction parallel to the folding direction.
In one aspect, the invention is directed to a method of folding a sheet having printed information thereon to form a folded item for providing information to the user of a product. The method comprises (a) folding the sheet by making a first fold in the sheet, the first fold being made in a direction parallel to a first direction; (b) folding the sheet by making a second fold in the sheet, the second fold being made in a direction parallel to the first direction, the first and second folds resulting in a first folded article, the first folded article having a first end and a second end opposite the first end; (c) making a plurality of transverse folds in the first folded article, the plurality of transverse folds being made in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction, the transverse folds resulting in a second folded article having a first end and a second end, the first end of the second folded article comprising a folded end, the second folded article having a first portion adjacent the first end of the second folded article and a second portion adjacent the second end of the second folded article; (d) folding the second folded article by making an additional fold in a direction parallel to the second direction, the additional fold being made to produce a third folded article having a first end, a second end and a plurality of intermediate portions disposed between the first and second ends of the third folded article, the second end of the third folded article corresponding to the second end of the second folded article; (e) depositing an adhesive on a portion of the third folded article; and (f) making a final fold in the third folded article in a direction parallel to the second direction to form the folded item, the final fold being made so that a portion of the third folded article is wrapped around the intermediate portions of the third folded article.